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Rin Asano
Rin Asano (浅野 凛, Asano Rin) is one of the two main characters in the Blade of the Immortal series, the other being Manji. She is sixteen years old. Rin is the lone survivor of the massacre of every student enrolled in her father's sword school, the Mutenichi-ryū, which ended with her father murdered and her mother raped and kidnapped. Appearance Rin often wears a red kimono with a bright blue flame design on the sleeves and skirt section. However, in some of the art from the series, the flame design is depicted as pale yellow instead of blue. Prior to the events of the story, she wears a kimono with a flowery pattern, and, on one occasion, a child's kimono. There have also been times where she has changed her clothes and hair in order to pass as someone else. The first instance of this occurred in Volume 8, The Gathering; she borrows the kimono of the Meshimori-onna of the Inn that her, Manji, and Shira stay at in Naito Shinjuku while persuing Anotsu. The second instance of this occurred in issue #128 (collected in Volume 19, Badger Hole.) where she and Dōa dress in rags in order to pass as beggars. This continues on and off throughout her and Dōa's infiltration of Edo castle, with both Rin and Dōa changing back and forth from their beggar disguises to their usual clothing and vice versa. Though Rin has changed her clothes a few times and has quite a striking design on her civillian kimono, perhaps the most peculiar thing about her physically is her odd hairstyle. She often wears her hair in two plaits secured with gold rings. In these rings, she usually conceals both poison and medicine. There have also been times where she has changed her hair; again, in Volume 8, The Gathering, she wears her hair in a "youthful fashion" while pretending to be the Innkeeper's wife's sister, Sawa. She also sometimes ties her hair back into a bun with a plain rag, but this is at leisure. Story Two years prior to the events of Blade of the Immortal, on Rin's birthday her father was murdered and her mother kidnapped along with the students of her father's sword school, the Mutenichi-ryū. The perpetrators of this event were the Ittō-ryū, and their leader, Kagehisa Anotsu. At the beginning of the series, Rin meets Yaobikuni while at her father's gravestone. Yaobikuni convinces her to find "the strongest, toughest Yojimbo of all," the now-immortal Manji. After walking seemingly all day, Rin finds a small hut out of town and sleeps there. The next morning, she learns that this hut is the home of Manji. Rin begs him to accompany her on her vendetta. Manji refuses at first; as he'd already had five other people come up to him asking him to kill for them, and he can't be sure who the real victims are - the ones who want revenge or the ones who have been slighted. Rin first offers him money, and then her body. The latter angers him so much that he smacks her because she reminds him of his little sister. Just as Rin gets up to leave, Manji offers to walk her back into town and they both end up finding Kuroi Sabato, the man who killed Rin's father. Manji becomes Rin's bodyguard after finally killing Kuroi. Together, they wander Edo, picking off Itto-Ryu members as they come, though some with more difficulty than others and Manji does not kill Magatsu Taito or Makie Otono-Tachibana, and looking for Kagehisa Anotsu. Sometime after Manji kills Araya Kawakami, Rin and Manji come into contact with the Mugai-ryu, a pack of criminals from death row who share Rin's goal of bringing down the Itto-Ryu. They team up for a short while, but when a planned ambush goes horribly wrong, and Rin wrongly ends up a wanted criminal, she departs Edo and leaves for Kaga, where Kagehisa Anotsu is traveling to. During this time Rin grows and slowly becomes more intelligent and self-sufficient as, away from Manji, she is forced to do a lot of things herself. While traveling to Kaga to find Anotsu, she slowly burns out from lack of food and meets Anotsu by chance. She plans to tail him wherever he goes, to seize a chance to kill him, but when he contracts tetanus and subsequently lockjaw, she has second thoughts. She aids him in defeating a group of Shingyoto-ryu members, not wanting him to be killed before she could kill him. Soon afterward he is unable to even stand, and, out of compassion, Rin offers him busu poison from her hair rings, which he declines. Sometime later, while buying some food from a farmer, she is caught by the last few remaining members of Shingyoto-Ryu and ordered to lead them to Anotsu. Overcome with emotion, Rin screams in defense of Anotsu's illness before Manji arrives. Rin is then forced to watch Manji take on a few of them before Magatsu and Makie respectively also arrive to fight the Shingyoto-ryu. When they are all dead - as Anotsu is ill and Makie is present - Rin chooses to simply go home rather than have Manji face either of them. When Manji is imprisoned for experimentation, Rin befriends Ittou-Ryu members Doua and Isaku. Rin and Doua eventually figure out Manji and Isaku are being held underneath Edo castle, and they team up to infiltrate it. They make it deep inside the castle before they're caught, and Rin offers to take all the punishment to save Doua from injury. Rin nears unconsciousness and her shoulders become dislocated before she is saved by Ozuhan, another Ittou-Ryu member who had been following them. Eventually, Doua finds Isaku's body and Rin is left on her own until she finds Manji. In his cell, she violently fights off the doctor who had been doing experiments on him. During Manji's rescue, Habaki Kagimura appears and he and Manji begin a battle. Renzo appears after a great flood begins, holding Manji's washed-away arm, and refuses to give it to Rin when he realizes Manji is still alive. Rin returns to Master Sori's house, along with new characters Meguro and Tanpopo. She runs into Anotsu Kagehisa again and they converse for a while. Anotsu tells her he and his fighters are leaving Edo for Satsuma, and that they will board a ship in Hitachi. He requests Rin ask Manji to go with her when she follows them. Manji agrees to accompany her, but warns her that because of his missing arm he may not be able to protect her very well anymore. Rin suggests they take palanquins to save their energy, but she is kidnapped by Shira who learned of their whereabouts via Meguro and Tanpopo. Shira submerges most of her body in a freezing pond, tying her wrists to dock posts. Rin is watched over by Renzo, who is conflicted between letting her die or saving her life. Rin watches Manji and Shira's fighting from across the water until Manji realizes where she is and comes for her. While attempting to save her, Rin, having been tied with iron-enforced rope to a large rock, sinks to the bottom of the pond. Manji passes out from the cold, but he and Rin are saved by Tanpopo. Rin eventually recovers to an extent, but has trouble with her legs due to frostbite and uses a walking stick to walk. When she and Manji continue their journey after Anotsu, Manji piggybacks Rin one more time, as he had done before. They arrive at the coast where Anotsu and Makie are fighting. Manji, at Rin's request, joins Makie's side and helps her fight. They eventually part and Manji takes on a very formidable foe, shortly after Rin joins his side. Manji is nearly permanently killed, and Rin saves his life by cutting her wrist over his body to give the illusion he is bleeding out, giving his body time to heal. She explains that Manji died in her place, so she doesn't mind being sacrificed. This extra time gives Manji's body enough time to heal, and he finishes the battle after tying a tourniquet around Rin's wrist. Hyakurin watches over Rin as Manji continues to fight. During these final battles, Anotsu Kagehisa is seriously wounded but manages to board one of his ships. When he turns, he sees Rin running toward him and she runs him through, killing him. Summer arrives once again and Rin talks to Hyakurin about her pilgrimage. The two observe Manji walking away; he is leaving because he is a wanted man. Rin seems calm but eventually breaks down before Hyakurin and sobs late into the night. Manji is next seen during the Meiji era (90 years later) and runs into Yaobikuni who has a young girl with her. The girl is Rin's great-great-granddaughter, and she hands Manji the dagger and hilt that Doua had given Rin. The dagger was to be carved (along with Doua's initial carving for Rin, the hilt is carved with the "manji" symbol surrounded by flames) and given to a lover. Based on Yaobikuni's explanation, Rin began a new sword school and married, bearing two sons. Personality At the start of the series, though immediately showing unwavering determination for revenge, Rin is quite naive and at times immature. She also has a tendency to cry a lot. Eventually, she matures and becomes stronger, more intelligent, and more independent. When concerning Manji's safety, she can be very tough and even violent. Although many of her other personality traits may be subject to change, one thing she has always shown is compassion, even for an enemy. 'Relationships to other characters' Manji: At first, Manji views Rin as a younger sister, perhaps somewhat replacing his own dead sister, Machi. However, as the story progresses, he sees Rin as her own person who is independent from his sister in every way. Rin feels strongly about Manji, but the extent is difficult to understand. She does think of him as a male figure, though it is never certain which kind; lover, brother, or father, or perhaps all three. A part of her may be interested in something more substantial with their relationship, but Manji doesn't often respond. She kisses him twice; the first he is unaware of and the second he doesn't seem to mind. He takes his job of protecting her very seriously and at times is so angry with her trying to help him instead that he threatens to leave her without a word. This suggests his emotional attachment to Rin is as good as that of a family member or something more. Anotsu Kagehisa: Rin and Anotsu have a complex relationship that is continually both complicated and clarified throughout their interactions in the story. They meet several times and though they never seriously try to harm one another, Rin remains adverse to the idea of anyone but herself killing him, and is especially against the thought he might die by someone else's vendetta that has no connection to her own. Because of this, Rin protects him several times, and they even travel together for a short time. He allows her to beat him up in frustration, lets her follow him, protects her from shared enemies, and listens to her animatedly tell him the entire story of what happened under Edo Castle while on a hill lying side-by-side. Doa: For a while, Rin sort of looks after Doa as if Doa were a child. Indeed, Doa's immaturity and social ineptitude often lead her into potentially troubling situations, which Rin has to deflect or help get her out of. Although Doa is Ittou-ryu, she and Rin put aside any differences to help each other work toward a common goal, and in the process become good friends. When they part ways, Doa gives Rin a dagger, partially carved with a symbol meaning "until we meet again". Renzo: Rin and Renzo have a complicated relationship. Renzo thinks highly of her when they first meet, and they have a fun older sister/younger brother dynamic. However, as the series progresses and his life turns upside-down, he is almost willing to let her die. They do not fully reconcile, but Rin understands a little of what he has been through and does not hold anything against him or feel any ill toward him at all. Hyakurin: Rin has a supportive, rather easy relationship with Hyakurin, who sometimes takes on a more motherly role for Rin. They are seen together at the end of the series. Tatsubo: Rin and Tatsu are childhood friends, and though they do not often interact, it is obvious they have retained their friendship and will likely remain friends for life. Meguro and Tanpopo: Rin has a friendly relationship with both women, as they are friends and students of Master Sori. Meguro sees Rin as a rival for Sori's romantic affections, something Rin is not even aware of, and is sometimes unkind to her. ---- Weapons and fighting skill *Aikuchi Daggers "Ogonchu" *Ezo Sword "Kutune Shirka" Quotes *"Thank you for the kind thought. But you'll just have to pray... ALONE, Kuroi Sabato!" *"So all you care about is '''money?!' You maggoty monster!!"'' *"Dying without achieving your goals... or living on for years without ever realizing them-- which is worse?" *"If samurai say that killing for their master is a noble cause... then isn't getting your hands bloody for your own parents more... more human?" *"Damn you, Anotsu Kagehisa! Wash your neck... and wait for my blade!" *"Maybe 'cause it'd piss me off! You getting yourself killed when it didn't have anything to do with '''my' stuff!"'' *"Friend or foe, I think anyone who's been pushed this far... at least deserves the choice." *"MANJI!! LISTEN!! KILL EVERYONE!! DO IT NOW!!" *"Manji, listen! I... I'm an adult now. If you're gonna '''die', I... I'd sacrifice my arm! Easy!"'' *"I've never thought Manji's life... weighed the same as some stranger's." *"I guess we'll have to feel our way..." *''"Ironic, isn't it? A girl like that gives up her sword... and I, who was always preaching to her that she should leave the path of killing, am still on it."'' *''So... Manji, please... until then... would you walk this road with me? Together we share laughter, anger, and pain... I save you when you're in trouble, just like you do for me... and I'm a problem for you, as you are for me. But... I feel our time together from now on will be short. Please... let us savor it.'' *"People who cry because they're helpless... people who spend sleepless nights awake, in remorse over lost loved ones... people in those situations... should be at his side, I think..." Trivia List of appearances Volumes: *All Volumes except for Beasts, where she appears only on a page signifying the start of a chapter. Issues: All Issues except for; *1; Prologue: Criminal *30; Dark Shadows part 2 *48; Comrades part 1 *49; Comrades part 2 *50; Comrades part 3 *51; Comrades part 4 *52; Comrades part 5 *53; Comrades part 6 *58; Secrets part 1 *59; Secrets part 2 *60; Secrets part 3 *63; Husk *66; Beasts part 1 *67; Beasts part 2 *68; Beasts part 3 *69; Beasts part 4 *70; Beasts part 5 *71; Autumn Frost part 1 *72; Autumn Frost part 2 *73; Autumn Frost part 3 *74; Autumn Frost part 4 *75; Autumn Frost part 5 *76; Autumn Frost part 6 *77; The Wind and the Heron *78; Cherry Blossom *86; Mirror of the Soul *95; Confession *101; Trickster part 3 *103; Pity *109; Shortcut part 3 *110; Shortcut part 4 *112; On the Perfection of Anatomy part 1 *113; On the Perfection of Anatomy part 2 *114; On the Perfection of Anatomy part 3 *115; On the Perfection of Anatomy part 4 * Other: Gallery of Issues featuring Rin on the Cover: 3.jpg|#3, the first issue to feature Rin on the cover. 6.jpg|Issue #6. 9.jpg|Issue #9, also the cover of Volume 2 (ENG). 10.jpg|Issue #10 11.jpg|Issue #11 17.jpg|Issue #17 19.jpg|Issue #19 20.jpg|Issue #20 24rin.jpg|Issue #24, also the cover of Vol. 5. 26.jpg|Issue #26 27.jpg|Issue #27 28.jpg|Issue #28 33.jpg|Issue #33 34.jpg|Issue #34 40.jpg|Issue #40. 42.jpg|Issue #42. 43.jpg|Issue #43 47.jpg|Issue #47. 55.jpg|Issue #55 56.jpg|Issue #56 57.jpg|#57, also the cover of Vol. 9 62rin.jpg|Issue #62 70rin.jpg|Issue #70 Gallery Rin_Profile.jpg Rin_anime_design.png|2019 reboot Category:Characters Category:Female characters Category:Kenshi Category:Mutenichi-ryu